Since getting into Electronics work, I’ve had my office organized like the picture on the left. And this worked just fine when all I had was a Fluke handheld meter, a bench power supply, and a scope. Maybe also the Function Generator. But when I added several bench multimeters, and stuff was getting shifted around, suddenly I couldn’t reach the desk work area with standard probe leads (5F), or the far right part with scope probes. So, for weeks now, I’ve been contemplating re-organizing to allow for easier use of my gear.

Then, the other day, I was watching a video by Ian Johnston, and I noticed he had his scope right above the desktop, which gave me the idea to put the scope above the monitor, move my server and drobo elsewhere, and then put all the rest of my testgear above the desk as well. At the same time, I was finally going to move my Airport Extreme into the linen closet in the center of the house to provide even coverage everywhere (and hopefully resolve the dead-spot in the dining room).

Two days later, with some extensive cleaning, and re-organizing, the picture at the right is the result. Obviously some serious cleaning has taken place between the two, but the general layout is the key change. And having just worked on a new project at the desk, I can say the new layout works MUCH better. I am able to run leads from the power supply to the desk (even the left side of the ESD mat), run a lead from the frequency counter (which has a 6′ lead), DMM leads, and a scope probe all to the same circuit and still have room to use the computer, which is advantageous since I’m working on a GPS Disciplined Oscillator that I needed to provide power, get serial output, check voltages, and check frequency output. So really, the new layout is great. Also, moving stuff off the shelf to the left let me purchase a modern Akro-Mills shelving unit to move nearly all my components to. I plan to buy another and wall mount them both, but I need to find the space for them both first. Sadly, the unit doesn’t quite fit between the shelving uprights. =/